Etcetera
by Spiffy McFloogan
Summary: AU. A mistake in her past has left Sango responsible for her village's demise. Determined to atone for her sins and avenge her family, she joins a ra-tag group of creature hunter's in their unique mission to save the world.


_It's been years since I've uploaded anything to this website!  
Going back to read my reviews from other stories I've published and unfortunately deleted, its given me the inspiration I need to jump back on the writing horse.  
This is a story I've had locked in my brain for years now that I've constantly rewritten and revamped. I've converted it to a fanfiction to get a good feel from readers as to how it flows, and I've learned that reviews and pressure to publish and write more stories from fans is the best way to finish my stories!_

_So please let me know what you think :)_

_I've got a cute one/two shot of Inuyasha and Kagome fluff I'm currently working on as well, so keep an eye out ;)  
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_I often felt as if I were falling._

Softly, gently, floating down into something I'd once known.

My body was light, tender to the touch. Moved by some unknown force towards total and complete..

…

_Freedom._

My waking body knew that I was falling into unconsciousness, leaving my body in the physical realm. I was spirited away into a beautiful world of nothing. Nothing but the gentle smooth touch of my skin against fabric and the weightlessness that lifted my mind into unseen heights.

My waking body knew that I was falling into unconsciousness, but my mind, my _soul _knew I was truly awakening.

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"Sango!"

The sounds of the fire were deafening. The crackle of heat against wood, and the groans of the old hut as its weak structure began to succumb to its wounds. The strong sharp smell of smoke and charcoal filled my lungs and licked against my tongue. My throat was dry, I couldn't swallow away the feeling that was trapped inside my mouth. It wasn't because of the fire, however.

"_Sango!"_

I knew I had caused this. I knew it was my fault. To egger to prove my worth, to bathe in the satisfaction of revenge, and to prideful to receive their warnings. A determined child with no idea of the consequences of her actions.

"_Sango show yourself!" _The hoarse cries of the villagers, beaconing me to receive judgment for my wrong doings. I had nothing left in the world, nothing to cause me to fear whatever punishment they deemed worthy of my sins. Yet my body was failing me. In my heart I knew I needed to leave this furnace and face my antagonists, be kissed by sweet justice and put to rest. Yet my body would not move. My head was light, my mind clouded by regret and despair, and my body heavy with hopelessness.

A sharp cry of pain from the center of the burning village echoed above the roar of the flames.

The harpies had arrived.

My heart ached, my head burned and my body began to shake. A merciless death would be to have this burning roof crash down on me, ending it quick.

"Oh Gods, help us!" The cries of my village were overwhelming. I buried my face in between my knees in my fetal position, praying the fire would end me. The wall I was leaned against bent and cracked, giving way onto the ground behind me. Startled, and jolted from my position, I fell with it, tumbling into grass.

I could not have been so lucky as to receive my death by fire.

I didn't realize just how hard it had been to breath in the fire until I was out of it, sputtering and coughing, wheezing to catch my breath. My vision was light, I felt my equilibrium disturbed by the lack of oxygen to my brain.

"There's our little _treasure_!" The light angelic voice of a woman above me turned into a snarl.

Startled, my heart began to race as the sound of fluttering wings surrounded me. I cursed myself for not feeling them, but what could I have done in the event that I did?

In every essence they were beautiful, wretched creatures. Soft silky feathers adorned their legs, sides and stretched onto their arms, extended into large glorious wings. It's easy to see how so many fall prey to them, lured by their flawless skin and vibrant colors of their feathers.

They began to land, their bird like feet leaving no sound as they touched the ground. Three of the humanoid birds were approaching me, their movements on the ground awkward and forced. These birds did not usually walk on the ground as mortals do. Their territory was in the sky, trees, and mountains where branches and jagged rocks were all they needed to perch on. Harpies did not leave their territory unless provoked.

I rolled onto my stomach and began to crawl, frantically, erratically, towards the forest. Their large bodies would not be able to maneuver in its grasp.

I deserved death, I needed it. Yet I could not bring myself to surrender, whether from fear, determination, or pure stupidity I did not know.

They began to trot after me, using their grandiose wings to propel themselves in gallops.

Cackling, their bodies began to distort as they pushed me to the ground and began to scratch me with their deadly talons. Their faces hardened and snapped into deadly beaks, their finger tips lost their feathers, and sharp claws broke through as they slashed and batted me around. They were toying with me, they didn't want to kill me so easily, not yet.

The chorus of screams from the village became more frantic, as the silhouettes of more harpies were seen flying towards the village from the mountains. Fast and agile, they swooped down and scooped up the helpless children first, carrying them back to their nest. They were not so gentle with their talons as they were with me.

I squirmed and cried out in pain, trying to stumble away from their menacing laughter.

"Stand still!" The largest of the three bellowed at me, and with a mighty swing of her wing, knocked me back towards the hut. My body slammed against the hot wood, shaking the weakened structure.

She ran towards me, her bright vibrant feathers turning black as the smell of blood awoke the hunter inside of her. Harpies were beautiful creatures until the hunt, where they become cloaked to match the night sky to hide from their prey.

She was done toying with me.

I reached around, desperate to find something to defend myself with. She was almost to me now. My hand finally grasped a large rock, and in my feeble fight to stay alive, I threw it at the bird woman.

She broke into hysterics when the rock landed a mere two feet from me. A pathetic attempt to defend myself. In that moment, she had stopped, turning to the other two birds to see if they had witnessed the humorous attempt.

It was all the distraction I needed. My right hand came in contact with a long piece of flaming wood. With the little strength I had, I jumped foreword, swinging at the hysterical Harpy. She screeched, jumping backwards, her wings alight with the hot flames. Bewildered and in agony, she tried to fly towards her kin for help, only further spreading the fire to them as they tried to bat her away. Their screeching was too loud, too sharp. It would only be a matter of moments before the others realized their flock was in danger.

"Nooo!" My head snapped to the right, locking stares with another of their kind. Her eyes were filled with venom as her body instantly changed to black, Her cry of anger distorted as her mouth began to break and harden into its long, sharp beak.

Adrenaline pumping, I threw the flaming piece of wood in her direction, turned, and ran as hard as I could into the woods.

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"_Its been five years, and still the screams of my neighbors haunt me. When I sleep I hear them in my dreams. When I'm awake, I'm haunted by looks of disgust. The harpies' talon's had left me disfigured, making me an outcast among the living. It's ironic, I wish I had stayed down, let them rip me to pieces so I may be atoned for my sins, pass on into the land of the dead. To be a spirit, finally free of my past._

_Yet, here I am. Alive. I might as well just be dead. The other humans ignore me, advert their gaze. I do not exist to them. The Harpies did more to me than they imagined. Although they did not succeed in killing me physically, the world treats me as if I do not exist. I don't know what is worse, being alive yet not living? Or…"_

There was a knock on the door.

My brows pulled together in confusion as I set down my quill. Was it the bar keep? It wasn't very often I was kicked out of taverns. Every once in a blue moon, however, some Christian would put the fear of God into the barkeep, convincing them I was a witch. It was common belief that witches were ugly, that God has marked them with unholy features as a warning to others to stay away from them. Those are the more common claims, others being that I was cursed, and wear the mark on my face. Or that I suffered leprosy, plague, infection…

I arose and walked to the door.

"Who is it?"

I heard the figure behind the door shift, uneasily. "Bar keep." He mumbled.

I closed my eyes and placed my forehead against the cool wooden door. He was nervous, scared even. I could feel him in my mind.

"Is there a problem?"

"Uhh.." he cleared his throat. "Could you step out of the room?" I waited, silent. I could feel another, not to far away. "Or I mean, No, please. St-Stay in there. We can talk here."

"Oh wonderful, I'm afraid I'm not decent." I laughed lightly, trying to stay nonchalant.

He sighed heavily. I could feel more coming. There were three outside the door now. Five… no seven outside my window in the streets. They were angry.

"Ms. Potter was it?" I had to think for a moment. Was that the name I signed in with this time? It was hard to keep track… He continued without my answer. "I'm afraid we need to ask you to leave." His anxiety was getting worse.

I sighed. So much for a nice bed, tonight. "May I ask why?" I turned and folded my parchment carefully, setting it gently into my nap sack. I never unpacked, it was a waste of time.

" 'Mam… I'm not sure if you're familiar with these parts… but well.. You see… there have been some attacks recently. Livestock has been devoured. People've died." His heart was racing so fast, it was making my head spin. I stopped focusing on what he was feeling and threw on my cape. "We lost our second boy not a fort night ago… and you see… people are a little scared."

I grabbed my wooden mask I had set on the table, placing it over my face as I pulled my hood over my head. "That's horrible… I'm sorry to hear." I tried to sound sympathetic but kids died everyday, who was I to care?

" 'Mam…. They think it be lycans… some folks have been hearing howling…," I snorted, it wasn't lycans. Whenever a person was stupid enough to get attacked by a rabid wolf in the woods, they were always the first to blame. Lycans were too noble to stoop to something as trivial as killing children, not to mention their kingdom was much too far away. They never leave their pack, and even if it were a pack of rogue lycans on the loose, there would have been more than a few deaths. Tightly monitored, someone would have came from their kingdom to put them down by now.

He continued. " 'Mam… I'm real sorry to say… but your face… it has people scared.. That…,"

"That I was attacked by one of them and am now a lycans bent on eating your chickens and children?" I was at the window now. More villagers had gathered, there was a small weak mob at my feet. Luckily I was on the second floor.

"You have to understand-," I understood full enough. I may have survived that attack five years ago, but my face did not. I was no longer the beautiful girl the men sought after. Apparently I was a werewolf, now.

"Well, it beats being called a witch. That's just insulting." I mumbled, and with one fast kick to the windows, it shattered out onto the mob below. I heard him cry out in surprise from behind the door. Maybe he busted the door in and came running after me, I have no idea. I was already out the window and running along the edge to the nearest building, the bakery.

It was a bit of a gap, but if I timed my jump just right I could grab the buildings ledge before I fell to the streets. From the ledge, I would shimmy to the left until I reached the next building's balcony. The air wreaked of stale bread, meaning I ideally could steal some food on my way through the building.

With my route carefully calculated, I launched myself foreword, elegantly, gracefully.

I grasped the ledge of the building, and in a moments decision, pulled myself up onto the ledge instead of shifting towards the next building. There was an open window in front of me, and the smell of bread had made my stomach groan with the urge to eat. I quickly wrapped my cape around my hand to protect it as I punched through the window.

Inside a startled woman stared at me, mouth slightly agape in shock.

I cleared away the broken window shards and pulled myself into the building.

"I need food." I told her. She slowly lifted her hand, pointing to an oven to my right with bread sitting atop drying racks. "Thanks." I nodded at her, scooped up five loafs, and shoved them into my bag.

"S-Sure thing…" She was dumbfounded.

A crash downstairs told me the villagers were inside the building, heading up towards me.

I jumped back through the broken window onto the balcony where I then climbed onto the rood using a thick vine that had grown on the bricks of the bakery. From there I ran, jumped, ducked, and dodged my way a crossed building tops towards the forest.

It looked like I'd be sleeping in the forest with the "werewolf" tonight.


End file.
